Everyone recognizes the design genius of a Porsche 911 or I. M. Pei’s Pyramid at the Louvre. But what other flashes of 20th-century brilliance have—until now—been overlooked? Step forward, Einstein Tower and Citroën DS, and take your bow.
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35 mm Film
Image Credit: Shutterstock From the advent of 35 mm cameras in 1914, it’s a straight line through “Kodak moments” to the ubiquity of digital cameras and Instagram.
“The most unsung invention of the 20th century—one that changed the world—is 35 mm film. While photography was invented in the 19th century, it was largely a cumbersome and specialized undertaking until Oskar Barnack invented the [35 mm camera] as the predecessor to Leicas, setting the frame for reportage that would change society’s understanding of the world. Without it we wouldn’t have had war or fashion photography, or have been able to capture candid milliseconds that led to the idea of cinema verité. As a consequence of this extraordinary little invention, we have a much deeper knowledge of time and space with which to work as designers. Arguably, had it not been for portable film, we wouldn’t have evolved to digital photography and all that we now take for granted in terms of visualizing the world around us. I still shoot with film today in Leica cameras… so, Mama, don’t take my Kodachrome away!”
Vishaan Chakrabarti, founder of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism.
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Cardiff Bay Opera House
Image Credit: Zaha Hadid Archives In the mid-1990s, despite vocal critics, Iraqi-born Zaha Hadid beat out 267 other architects to win the competition to design the Welsh opera house, but her radical glass blueprint was never built: The commission that controlled the purse strings refused to fund it. Hadid had the last laugh: Her Guangzhou Opera House became an instant, if flawed, landmark.
“Hadid has stated she felt gender and ethnicity prejudice was the cause. Her use of geometric shapes and asymmetry in her designs was unique. While the building concept continues to inspire [other] designs, the fact that it will never be built is a huge loss in the design world.”
Brigette Romanek, CEO and principle designer, Romanek Design Studio.
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César’s Expansion Table
Image Credit: Thierry Depagne Known universally as César, César Baldaccini was a revered French sculptor in the post-war period, making his name with crushed scrap metal. He also occasionally made functional objects, such as this 1977 showstopper of a table.
“He was highly prolific in sculpture, but his functional designs were very personal and are quite rare, because they were created mostly for the artist’s own use or for people he knew and loved. César’s Expansion Table is just such a work. One of the few functional design objects created through César’s signature expansion technique, it is a true masterpiece. This table has been tremendously influential, and you can see echoes of its scale, mass and bold materiality in much later works by American and European designers, from Wendell Castle to Zaha Hadid. Furthermore, Expansion Table represents the ne plus ultra of French style of the 1970s, a decade that is still influencing contemporary taste. They were the years of fusion—the merging of art and 5 industrial design, glamour and function, when boundaries were pushed beyond the old, accepted rules and the province of style expanded.”
Suzanne Demisch, partner, Demisch Danant design gallery.
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The Einstein Tower
Image Credit: Claudio Divizia/Shutterstock It may look like a certain Mother Goose character with too many children living there, but the Einstein Tower is a functioning solar observatory. Completed in 1921, the tower was built to test Einstein’s theory of relativity, and it remains Erich Mendelsohn’s most famous work.
“The Einstein Tower is the most emblematic to me of the 20th century, notwithstanding the fact that it’s in Potsdam. It is strangely modern and classic at the same time, solid and light. And, of course, its purpose could not be more symptomatic and its meaning eternal.”
Robert Couturier, interior decorator.
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The Barcelona Pavilion
Image Credit: Alamy No, not the chair. Far from overlooked, that Bauhaus icon takes it name from the structure for which it was created: Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe and Lilly Reich’s German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona. Sitting on a Travertine plinth and with a low, flat roof seeming to float above it, the pavilion was a modernist tour de force, breaking down the barrier between inside and outside and speaking to post-World War I Germany’s hopeful progressives. Torn down in 1930, the pavilion was reconstructed in the 1980s with the help of photographs and the architects’ original plans.
“Icon defines a timelessness, a recognizable style lexicon and the power to invoke awe and inspiration long after its creation. The Barcelona Pavilion paved the way for a new style of modernism and design that continues to influence designers today. The principles of ‘less is more’ and ‘form follows function’ have become pillars of the creative industries. The building firmly planted the Bauhaus as the single most important design movement of the last century, extending into influence to architecture, art, textiles, design, literature and philosophy.”
Jason Basmajian, creative director.
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Citroën DS
Image Credit: Shutterstock Making its debut in 1955, the Citroën has been compared to a basking shark. The “DS” was a winking allusion to the French déesse, or goddess, and French literary theorist Roland Barthes famously pronounced it true to its name. More than a looker, it set the standard for handling.
“It became one of France’s most recognizable car designs. Throughout its long life [it was taken out of production in 1975] its blueprint barely changed. The great concept and engineering of Flaminio Bertoni, André Lefèbvre and Paul Magès made it what it is—one of the finest examples of success connecting form and function in design.”
James de Givenchy, Taffin Jewelry.
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Eames Walnut Stools
Image Credit: Shutterstock Created in 1960 for the lobby of the Time-Life Building at Rockefeller Center in New York, these carved walnut stools by married designers Charles and Ray Eames doubled as seating and tables, and engendered comparisons to chess pieces. Herman Miller now manufactures them, in three silhouettes, each retailing for about $1,100.
“The lounge chairs that the creative couple made for the space are synonymous with their design and the era’s aesthetic, but these stools are an icon in their own right. They’re beautiful wooden sculptures inspired by African furniture and the work of Brancusi. They’re multi-functional, too—comfortable to sit on and just the right height for holding a cup of coffee. Last but not least, it was Ray—not Charles—who came up with this brilliant piece. Because of the era and her gender, Ray was often not properly credited for her major contributions to design. It wasn’t until this century that we began to recognize her as a powerhouse and pioneer.”
David Yurman, co-founder and CEO, David Yurman.
